OWL was kept busy once again last year.
The Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society cared for 435 injured birds of prey in 2013, down slightly from the previous year but still enough to stretch the non-profit society to its limit, said executive director Bev Day.
"Our food bill alone is $12,000 ahead of last year's. We've gotten inundated with babies this year, so we're going through something like a thousand mice every two weeks. It's basically costing us $1,600 a month in food," she said of a busy 2013.
Day said some of the more interesting birds that came through the 72nd Street shelter included a burrowing owl, a goshawk and a rough-legged hawk. The animals are found not only in Delta but also throughout the Lower Mainland and the province. They are brought to the East Ladner facility to be rehabilitated and released.
In addition to receiving a steady stream of birds, the team at the shelter undertakes on-site rescues, including one last year where volunteers were dispatched to Fort Langley to rescue a juvenile bald eagle that had one wing impaled on a branch 80 feet up a dead cottonwood tree.
OWL has gained national recognition for treating hundreds of injured birds annually but has been cut off from government funding, relying primarily on community donations.
"We haven't gotten any gaming money for years. They say we don't work enough with kids, but we have an education program and we also work with juvenile and adult offenders, the school co-op ed program, the volunteers and so on," Day said.
OWL's current facility is cramped and poses challenges, including a continuous risk of flooding during heavy rain. For the last few years the society has been raising funds while looking for a new location.
"We have a couple of places in mind but have to jump through a lot of hoops. We have to have a certain amount of money before we can even make an offer on a property," Day said.
The society has raised under $1 million but is looking for farm properties three times that much, hoping to have a shelter on part of the site while leasing the rest of the land to a farmer. Each of the properties it's been looking at has drawbacks as well as benefits, but everything depends on what's going to be available when the society is ready to make an offer.
The current shelter is located at 3800-72nd St.
OWL is always looking for more volunteers who have a genuine interest in helping wildlife, especially birds of prey. Experience is not necessary, but volunteers must be at least 13. For more information about OWL or to make a donation, visit www.owlcanada.ca. The society welcomes any cash donations, including penny drives.
